The present invention is directed toward a plastic molded shim and more particularly toward such a shim which is adapted to be mounted to the molding around a window or door to create a planar surface for mounting a window treatment bracket thereto.
Window treatments such as drapes or blinds or the like are commonly supported by metal brackets attached to the area of the wall around the window or door. These brackets can either be attached to the wall itself or to the molding which surrounds the door or window. Mounting the brackets to the wall is sometimes difficult since the walls may be made of plasterboard or the like which does not provide significant anchoring support for the brackets. It is, therefore, frequently desirable to secure the brackets to the wooden frames surrounding the window or door. These solid wooden frames frequently provide better anchoring security for the brackets.
As is well known in the art, however, moldings frequently used around windows or doors do not present vertical planar surfaces. Rather, they are normally decorative in nature and frequently are thicker at their outer edge away from the window or the door than at the inner edge which is adjacent the window opening. The unevenness of such molding creates a significant problem when installing the brackets or other hardware for drapes or blinds as anyone who has ever attempted to do so has undoubtedly experienced.
The primary problem with the use of decorative type window moldings results primarily from the horizontally extending molding located above the window or door. Most hardware and similar brackets used for drapes and blinds are normally in the form of a metal L-bracket which, when properly mounted and oriented, has a vertical leg and a horizontally extending leg. The vertical leg normally has a substantially planar rear vertical surface that is adapted to be secured to the wall or molding so that the horizontal surface can extend into the room for supporting the rods or tracks or the like which, in turn, support the drapes or blinds. Obviously if the L-bracket is not mounted so that its rear surface is substantially vertical, the horizontal leg of the same will be tilted and the drapes or blinds cannot be properly hung.
If the horizontal molding above a door or window is not substantially planar, there is no planar surface to which the L-bracket can be mounted. The brackets, therefore, cannot be mounted directly to the molding and in proper orientation.
Window treatment installers have, from time to time, wedged small pieces of wood or metal or the like between the lower end of the L-brackets and the molding so as to space the lower end of the bracket from the molding in order to make the same vertical. This, however, is a haphazard type of cure as the spacer can become dislodged. Furthermore, there is no guarantee of uniformity amongst the brackets and there is no way to insure that each of the multiple brackets being mounted to the molding will be in substantial alignment with the others.